Pages

Friday, April 8, 2016

‘Feel the Bern!’- The Bernie Sanders movement in United States

-Balu S.

-

USA has been
incorrectly referred to as the oldest democracy in the world. The truth is
Universal Adult Franchise did not exist in the country until late 1960s, when
massive civil rights movement forced the federal government to enact laws
enforcing voting rights for every citizen. The state of democracy in USA can be
termed as a plutocracy, which is a form of oligarchy controlled by a small
minority of the wealthiest citizens. The
most tangible evidence for this is the wealth of the members of US Congress.
Out of the total 538 members in US Congress, 268 are millionaires.

Since the
late 1850s, the political competition in the country has mainly revolved around
the Democrats and the Republicans. Both the parties have had quite converging
views on the role of USA as an imperialistic bully in world affairs. It was
under the Democratic president Lyndon B. Johnson that America intensified it’s
the occupation of Vietnam while it was under the Republican George W. Bush that
they initiated the so called on “War on Terror” which is responsible for the
present socio economic chaos in the Middle East. The divergence, although very limited, has
been in the domestic affairs. The Democratic Party has taken healthier
positions with respect to various social questions. It was under the Democratic
presidents that the social security was provided, civil rights were enacted and
Gay marriage was made legal. This is in contrast to the Republican Party which
has always had conservative views on various social questions. But it should not be noted that in most
instances where Democratic Party has initiated progressive legislations, it has
been due to decades of pressure generated by various social movements. Rarely
has the party initiated any progressive policy prescription on their own.

The phenomenon
called Bernie Sanders:

Amidst all this, strikingly, according
to a recent poll, 54 % Americans believe that A
Political Revolution Should Happen in America to Redistribute Wealth from the
Billionaire Class[1]. This is largely the result of the massive campaign against economic
inequality by the presidential contender of Democratic Party, Bernie sanders. When
Sanders began his presidential campaign a year back, support for him was an
insignificant 3%. Today after 31 contests in the race for democratic
presidential candidate with Hilary Clinton, Sanders has won 14- something which
no political pundit predicted a year back.

Sanders has been a US Senator for 9
years. Before that he was the member of US House of Representatives for nearly
16 years. Throughout his career, he has labelled himself as an independent
although he has caucused with Democratic Party in both the houses. All through his career, he has been an
outspoken critique of income inequality, corporate influence in politics and climate
change deniers. He is probably the only American politician to have a humane
view of Palestine and has also opposed most American military interventions. Although
he considers himself to be a socialist, his policy prescriptions which are
largely influenced by Scandinavian countries, are social democratic in nature.
But in the specific political context in USA where neoliberal hegemony
prevails, where trade unions are busted, where Communists have been witch
hunted, to be even a social democrat is a radical step.

Brief History of Left in US politics:

It is not the case that the Left did not
exist in American politics before Sanders came in the scene. There have been
different phases before in which American politics witnessed strong presence of
the Left. By the end of the 19th century, American Midwest and west
witnessed the growth of a political organisation called Progressive party which
strongly advocated nationalisation of railways and banks. The party even won
some governorships before being subsumed into the Democratic Party. In the
second decade of the twentieth century, America witnessed a Socialist candidate
running for the presidency for the first time. His name was Eugene V Deb and he
represented the Socialist Party. Contesting four times, twice from jail, Deb
polled a respectable vote share of 6% in his fourth attempt. It should be
remembered that these elections happened before the beginning of the cold war
and socialism had not yet become a dirty word in the American politics. With the Great Depression that followed in
the next decade, labour movement became widespread and militant in urban areas.
The Communist Party also became strong in certain pockets like Chicago. At the
same time, the economic discontent created by the great depression was translated
into popular support for Democratic Party by their then leader F.D. Roosevelt
through Keynesian measures adopted through his New Deal polices. With the
massive repression of Leftwing activists in the McCarthy era, the first phase
of left wing politics in USA came to an end.

The second phase started in the 1960s
when the ‘new left’ emerged in American politics. Questions of culture, sexuality,
Vietnam War and race became important in the political discourse. Radical
outfits like Black Panthers who addressed the question of race from a Marxist
outlook were important constituents of the American Left in this period. Like
the 1930s, the popular support created by these movements was again channelized
into the Democratic Party culminating in the candidature of George McGovern as
the presidential candidature of the Democratic Party in 1972. McGovern ran a
campaign from a strong anti-Vietnam war platform. But the election results were hugely
unfavourable for him. He lost all the states except Massachusetts to the
incumbent president Richard Nixon resulting in the second biggest electoral
defeat[2]
with respect to the states carried. It also prevented the leftward movement of
the Democratic Party. Many members of the present Democratic leadership have
been continuously citing George Mcgoverns’s massive electoral defeat as a
possible result if a radical candidate like Bernie Sanders contests from the Democratic
Party. But then again the historical conditions in 1972 are different from the present
times. The American public was largely in favour of the handling of the economy
by Nixon. Even in the foreign policy sphere, the administration had remarkable
success when they exploited the Sino-Soviet rivalry and began formalized
relations with China. Unlike the present
times, there was absence of anger against the system.

With the economic crisis of 2007,
precipitated by the mortgage crisis, began the third phase. Occupy Wall street movement was a critical
event of this phase. Senators like
Elizabeth Warren of Democratic Party who strongly vouched for regulation of
Wall Street and the re-instalment of Glass Steagal[3]
act became national figures in this period. With the rise of Bernie Sanders,
this phase does not see any end in sight soon.

What explains
the rise of Bernie Sanders?

As Bernie Sanders himself pointed out in
a recent interview[4],
he himself did not see the possibility of his message being so widely
acceptable four years back. While the economic crisis provided an entry point
for the Left, the absence of complete recovery from the crisis has added up the
frustration among working class, middle class and students in the USA to turn
the polity into a leftward direction. The real unemployment rate in USA as of
February last year in 9.7%[5].Despite
increased productivity, the average wages of workers have remained stagnant for
the last four decades[6].
Not only is the income inequality high, the gap between the rich and poor has
increased after 2007.According to a report, the top ten percent took more than
50% of the total national income, the highest since 1917 when the data in these
matters began to be recorded[7]. These are objective economic features for the
Left to make a meaningful intervention. The presidential run of Bernie Sanders
is the most visible manifestation of this intervention.

Occupy Wall Street Movement had also raised
these issues. But the movement never really tried to build an organisation to
channelize these grievances in a systematic manner. Critics have pointed that it
was fuzzy and a bit anarchic in nature. The very fact that Sanders is trying to
channelize the anger and frustration through institutionalised mechanisms towards
a logical end makes him far more attractive for general public. Apart from
this, the public image of Sanders which is that of a straight forward honest
politician who has consistently upheld progressive politics have also played an
important role in his success.

Some
interesting insights offered by the support base of Sanders:

Sanders, performs the best among the
younger voters of all the ethnicities. In most of the states where the voting has
happened, Sanders has led over Clinton among the age group18-29[8]
. Exception is some states of the Deep South like Mississippi. Apart from the
fact that the younger voters are more liberal than the rest of the population,
the issue of free college education espoused by Sanders has touched a chord
with the younger voters. In most of the counties situated around universities,
Sanders has polled significantly more votes than Clinton.

Sanders has also done significantly well
with individuals who label themselves as very liberal or liberal. With the
moderates, his performance has been ordinary.
There are two other variables which are associated with a good
performance by Sanders. Sanders has done exceedingly well in states where
Democratic Party conducts caucuses. In
caucuses, unlike primaries where registered democratic supporters come and
vote, supporters of both the candidates assemble and debate the merits of each
candidates before voting. The supporters of Sanders who are definitely more
motivated have used this opportunity to mobilise neutral voters for Sanders.
Out of the 12 caucuses which have happened, Sanders has won 10. Sanders, has
also done well in primaries when Sanders does well when the primary is not
limited to registered democratic supporters. In an open primary, independent
voters who have a far more favourable rating of Sanders than Hillary have voted
significantly in his favour.

Among the social classes, white working
class have rallied behind Sanders. Interestingly, the other candidate who has
managed to get significant support from white working class is Donald Trump,
the ‘outsider’ businessman leading candidate for Republican Nomination for
Presidential election. While Donald trump has made a niche for himself by
attacking Mexicans and immigrants, another aspect which has been overlooked by
many in his speeches is his attack of trade deals which according him have
resulted in job losses for Americans. Even Sanders have attacked these deals,
especially in industrial belts like Ohio and Michigan. Commentators have
claimed that Sanders upset victory in Michigan is largely due to his
concentrated attack of Trans Pacific Partnership. But the very fact that the white working
class is divided largely between Trump and Sanders is an observation which has
to be analysed to be in depth. We witness a situation in which individuals
belonging to the same social class are behaving in markedly divergent ways. Wilhelm
Reich[9]
while writing about mass psychology of fascism made very interesting
observations on why significant sections of working class are attracted towards
fascism .While it is unsure whether Trump should be branded as a fascist, there
are definitely fascistic tendencies in his speeches. His attack of the
minorities, remarks which are frequently misogynist and sexist, his demagoguery
etc reflects traits which are fascistic in nature. Reich points out how
patriarchy in combination with authoritarian family structure and repressed
sexuality results in masses across social classes supporting authoritarian
father like figures provided by fascist demagogues. It is precisely around
values associated with family and patriarchy that we witness strong divisions
among American white working class. For example, consider the issue of abortion.
For decades, the Republican right wing in America has used this as a political
tool to deny women right over their bodies, reaffirming patriarchal familial
values in that process. According to a survey conducted in 2012[10],50
percent of working class whites support abortion rights in all or most cases,
while 45 percent oppose abortion in all or most cases. Therefore, it is
possible that the dividing lines between working class supporters of Trump and
Sanders are the values which they advocate on different social issues.
Unfortunately, there are not many surveys which have not looked into these
minute aspects. But this phenomenon is an important lesson for leftwing
activists. In the battle against fascism, the fight in the economic front is
one of the many fronts. Concomitant cultural battles are simultaneously required.

One social group which Sanders has
miserably failed to carry with him is the African American voters. In most southern
states of USA where there is concentrated strength of African Americans, Hilary
Clinton has scored huge victories over Sanders. In states like Mississippi,
where African American constitute nearly 80% of Democratic primary voters,
Clinton managed to get 83% of total votes. African Americans are an important
constituent of the Democratic base and it has proven to be the Achilles heel
for Sanders. It is a fact that both the Clintons have cultivated a following
among African Americans .Bill Clinton himself was the governor of Arkansas, a
southern state which had a strong African American population before becoming
the President of the USA. Sanders point these as reasons for his failure to
garner support from African Americans. While these are valid reasons, the Sanders
campaign has never tried to specifically address the issue of racism. In most
of his speeches, Sanders has highlighted the issue of racism connected with his
larger economic message. He has also
highlighted the massive unemployment among African Americans and the large
percentage of incarceration of African Americans in his numerous speeches. But
he rarely tried to address the issue of racism in isolation from his larger
economic message.

More problematic thing is his position
on gun control, where he has flip-flopped and has only recently agreed for firearms
manufacturers to be held liable in civil suits after mass shootings[11].
This is in contrast to President Obama and Hillary Clinton who advocate strict
gun control laws. These flip-flops have been a major reason for his weak
support among the African American community, as highlighted by Black Lives
Matter activists disrupting his rallies[12]

For the huge majority of African Americans,
racist discrimination is the most lived form of discrimination which they face
and is not limited to any strata or section of African Americans. It is far
more personal for them and for many, it exists in isolation from everything. Sanders
should have tried to address the issue of racism in a far more serious
manner. At least while specifically addressing
African Americans, he could have prioritised the issue of racial discrimination
over other matters. His failure in capturing African American votes despite a
radical economic agenda is also an eye-opener for the Left.

What does the
future hold for Sanders?

When Sanders started his campaign, many
critics from the Left considered it to be a futile since for most of them, the
Democratic Party is too compromised to make any radical changes. This is true.
Only a miniscule section of the establishment Democrats have rallied behind
Sanders. More than 90% of them have openly declared their support for Clinton. At the same time, it is doubtful whether an
independent run by Sanders would have given him such momentum and coverage. To
the American dining tables, he has bought issues for discussion which were
considered taboo until recently by the political class. In retrospect, it can
be concluded that his decision to run on the platform of Democratic Party was
tactically the correct one.

With the contests in 30 states over, the
odds of Sanders winning the nomination is extremely low. The delegate lead of
Clinton over Sanders is nearly 250. This is excluding the super delegates who
are massively behind Clinton. Sanders has two options in front of him. One is
to initiate a Tea Party like formation[13]
of the leftwing progressive variety and attempt to transform the Democratic
Party inside. The other is to cut the chord with the Democratic Party and
initiate independent movements. In the present political scenario, where the
political establishments of both Republican and Democratic Party are fast
loosing legitimacy in front of a polity which is getting polarised like nothing
before, this is a possibility.

[3] The
term Glass Steagall Act usually
refers to four provisions of the U.S. Banking Act of 1933 that limited commercial
bank securities, activities, and affiliations within commercial banks and
securities firms. It was repealed by Bill Clinton in 1999 and is considered to
be an important cause of the financial crisis of 2007.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Editorial

How do we see the world? It is neither a gaze, nor is it to invent the predetermined truth, it is to intervene from a position. Our seeing is changing at the same time and without any claim to excavate the unadulterated truth that never existed.
READ MORE...